Removal of false-positive reactions from plasma in an enzyme immunoassay for bovine interferon-γ

A monoclonal antibody-based sandwich enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for bovine interferon-γ (IFN-γ) has been developed and can be used in conjunction with a whole blood culture system to diagnose tuberculosis in cattle. During its development, normal bovine plasma samples were tested to establish background levels of circulatory IFN-γ. Of 191 samples tested, 81 (42.4%) were positive (OD > 0.1) when tested undiluted in intact monoclonal antibody (IgG1)-coated wells compared to only 8 (4.2%) in F(ab′)2-coated wells, which suggested non-specific interference in the EIA rather than circulatory IFN-γ. Reactivity of all remaining samples was removed by diluting plasmas 12 with 1% casein-PBS-0.05% Tween 20 supplemented with an optimum amount (5%) of normal mouse serum (NMS). Serum pools derived from BALB/c, DBA/2, C3H/HeJ, CBA/CaH and Swiss, but not C57BL/6J, mice were found to inhibit equally the reactions of five strong false-positive bovine plasma samples but had no effect on the titre of IFN-γ in the sample. Sera from other species tested were less effective. This suggests that the interfering factors possess a high degree of specificity, since the immunoglobulin heavy chain of IgG1 produced by all these five strains of mice are allotypically identical and different to IgG1 produced by C57BL/6J mice. The use of F(ab′)2 antibody fragments to coat plate wells and sample diluent containing 5% NMS has resulted in an EIA for bovine IFN-γ that is virtually free from false-positive reactions, has a high degree of reproducibility and a sample detection limit equivalent to approximately 80 pg/ml recombinant bovine IFN-γ.